The Price Of Faliure
by Maladicta
Summary: Indiana just got given a disk, on it is the information that could save mutant kind. She also got given a mutation. Happy birthday chica. *Complete*
1. Nursing Mothers And Dudes In Black

Disclaimer: the usual. I don't own 'em get over it. *sigh* I really get tired of disclaimers. You know the drill, don't like html. --- is little dots * is thoughts. Read review enjoy. I've actually re-uploaded the story with some new bits and fixed bits. So double enjoy.  
  
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Indiana Chicago didn't know when things started to go wrong, but suddenly, they were sitting in the Food Court and Birony and Silvya weren't talking to each other. She had gotten a shock this morning when two of her best friends had shown up in the Recovery Unit and announced that they were going to treat her to a day out for her birthday. Maybe it was in hopes she would talk, or maybe they just wanted to make her feel better, let her know they were there for her. Whatever their good intentions they had fallen apart as soon as they'd gotten to the Mall, and now, instead of listening to the cheerful chatter of her friends, she was watching the steady ebb and flow of the crowd and trying to place them in society.  
  
There were the new mothers, with babes in arms, at one table, a couple of bums spread about the place, the regular lunch guys in suits, your picnicking family types, and some seriously weird body guard guys, six in all, sitting in a group of to the side.  
  
Indiana's attention was draw back to her own table. Birony was talking about the new boat her parents had brought, but she shut up when Silvya kicked her under the table.  
  
*Now how do I know that?* Indiana thought to herself.  
  
That had started to happen a lot after the accident, this--- Knowing--- of things, and it scared her silly. Because anything out of the ordinary was wrong, weird, strange---  
  
Mutant.  
  
The last thought was what scared her the most, that she was a mutant, a hated and feared genetic screw-up, one of the minority that the majority wanted dead.  
  
Indiana smiled to show her friends that she took no offence at the accidental mention of parents. Everyone had spent the last five weeks treating her as if she was ticking bomb, able to go off at any second. She just wished that they'd stop. It was getting inane. Yes, she had lost her parents in a massive thirty-car pile-up on one of Canada's busiest motorways, and yes she had been the only survivor, just.  
  
But Indiana was getting sick of all the therapy sessions, and the heart-to- hearts, and all the well-wishers. She just wanted to be left alone and to get on with her life, that's why she'd brought only certain things today. Because as soon as Indiana entered the Mall she knew for certain she was never going back to the hospital.  
  
With a smile and some hand gestures Indiana indicated that she was going to the Rest Rooms. That was another thing that had changed after the accident, her voice, or lack thereof. She had been struck dumb it seemed, by the shock of being in a space no higher then thirty centimeters with the dead bodies of both her parents for two days. When Indiana thought back to the random photographs that made up her memory of that time she couldn't blame herself for being struck dumb. The doctors assured her that her voice would return in time, and then tried various measures to try and bring it back. None had worked. One kindly old Doctor had told her that her voice would return when she needed it, and not before. It hadn't helped.  
  
With a sigh she rose and headed for the bathroom.  
  
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Review please. Be nice. Reviews make me feel good. 


	2. A Little Miscalculation

And here's Ch 2. Revised and reedited!  
  
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Chase watched as the girl rose and headed towards the Rest Rooms, this might be his only chance to get her alone, taking a deep breath, he took it. He watched as the girl pushed open the door to the Ladies. Looking around quickly he followed. She'd already entered one of the stalls and for modesty's sake he turned on one of the faucets.  
  
He could see the confusion in her eyes as he grabbed for her when she opened the door, but she didn't even yell as he dragged her into an empty stall.  
  
............  
  
As soon as the weird looking bum touched her, Indiana blacked out. It wasn't like the usual blackouts that she'd experienced in the hospital in Toronto, this was the kind of black out that occurred when the mind just couldn't deal with what was happening to the body. It felt like something inside her had been torn off, like she was a shaken up bottle of Coke that had just had its lid twisted. When her parents had gone to Hawaii for their second honeymoon Indiana had taken to surfing, until the day she took a dive in the middle of a barrel. That's what it felt like; being buried under seven meters of churning water and having no say in the out come of the experience.  
  
............  
  
Chase looked down at the convulsing girl, he'd never expected her to react to his touch like this! He'd thought it might strengthen the small amount of precog that she possessed, not send her into spasms. Quickly he slipped the disc into the girl's pocket, and shoved two hundred dollars cash down her shirt. To an observer the careful unclipping of the necklace from around his neck and fastening of it around the girls might have seemed spur of the moment, but it was not.  
  
.............  
  
She was older then he'd thought.  
  
*Must have been a late bloomer or something*  
  
That's what had attracted him to her in the first place, the small strength of her gift. Shit! He'd really screwed this one up, first getting caught, then picking up a tail, and now this damn girl, too late now though. The twitching had stopped and she was starting to come to.  
  
............  
  
When Indiana returned to consciousness her appearance was vastly changed. What once had been a brown haired, blue-eyed girl was now, well, different. She processed the gun that was pointed between her eyes then looked past it into the dirty face of a bum.  
  
"I'm sorry about that, that wasn't meant to happen,"  
  
A look of concern somewhat softened his harsh features.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
Indiana nodded the affirmative. It caused her to catch sight of her nails; they were no longer short and neat, but two inches of delicately curved white and blue.  
  
She glared up at her captor, who at least had the decency to look apologetic.  
  
"I'm sorry about that, really I am, but I had no choice."  
  
Chase didn't have time to cushion the kid, or explain himself fully, so he just cut straight to it.  
  
"You knew you were starting to show some signs of Mutation, right?"  
  
Wearily Indiana nodded, she'd had no luck trying to fool herself into thinking it was her imagination, and if some bum off the street could see it, it must be pretty obvious.  
  
"Well, I'm a Mutant too, and my only gift is latent, at least for me. I have the power to awaken the latent powers in other mutants. That's what I've done to you. Though I didn't think I'd be this severe." He muttered to himself.  
  
"Look kid, I know this is gunna seem strange, but I need you to go to New York for me. Okay?"  
  
Indiana gave him a bright smile and raised a finger. Chase drew back the hand that held the pistol, and before he knew what he was doing he belted her across the cheek. A grunt of pain was all the answer he got.  
  
"Listen girl, the fate of Mutants everywhere depends on you getting to New York. You understand?"  
  
Indiana nodded, wide-eyed with pain.  
  
"Have you heard of the Mutant Registration Bill?"  
  
Again she nodded, this time with a hint of fear.  
  
"You carry a disk that has the proposed Bill on it. It's also got the details of all the known Mutants that the government's picked up. I can't get to New York because I'm being watched, but you can. If I keep going north they'll keep after me, giving you a clear shot. Got it?" Again Indiana nodded.  
  
"Would you do this for me?"  
  
Before she could answer the bum shoved her into the space between the toilet and the wall.  
  
"Stay hidden." He breathed.  
  
Something in his voice made her obey without question.  
  
........  
  
Chase shut the stall door and then quietly walked towards the door of the bathroom. Before he got there it swung open. Indiana jumped with each of the six shots.  
  
"Chase Alexander. Thirty-five, educated at Xavier's School For The Gifted, got into a bar brawl that escalated to kill four people. Been on the run ever since. It is not know how he came upon the disk. Search him." Ordered a cold voice.  
  
She could hear the tearing of cloth, and some muttered curses.  
  
"It's not here boss."  
  
Indiana heard movement then a crash as the first stall was kicked open, and the next, the door of the third stall crashed against the wall. There was one stall between her and whoever had shot the bum, no, Chase. She heard the forth stall being kicked open. The next stall was hers.  
  
"Enough Hans!" Indiana heard the speaker spit  
  
"The disk is not here, if this is the target at all."  
  
The last comment was said with such menace she was amazed Hans was still alive.  
  
"Lets go."  
  
"But---"  
  
"Now!" 


	3. Blood Baths And Candy Stripes

Keep reviewing people. Come on. Please.?  
  
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After the door slammed shut Indiana risked waiting five minutes, anyone could come in and find the body, but it was a risk she gladly took.  
  
Slowly she opened the door.  
  
The bum was dead, the six bullet holes in his chest testament to that, and the floor around him was slick with blood. Taking a deep breath Indiana strode to the fallen gun, picking it up thrust it through the waistband of her pants, pulling down her shirt to cover it. As she looked up she caught sight of her reflection for the first time. If she hadn't already been shocked dumb she would have been.  
  
Her hair--- Far from being the stylish bob she had entered with, was now a tangled waist length mass of streaks. The streaks matched her finger nails snow white and electric blue. White seemed to be the base colour with blue banded through. They won't like the streaks you paid for in salons. These ones started at her hairline and bled backwards from her face. The smallest were a finger width wide, the largest two fingers. Well, at least her eyebrows had stayed the same. Indiana also found she was wearing a necklace; a silver X, encircled, set on a black background, it was about the size of a silver dollar, and twice as thick. Reaching into her shirt she pulled out a roll of bills. Two hundred dollars all up. Indiana looked down at the clothes she was wearing. Then looked at her tangled mass of hair.  
  
*If I have to go to New York*  
  
She glanced over at the body, the blood was starting to thicken, not that there was any debate over her going now.  
  
*I'm going shopping*  
  
With shopping on her mind Indiana didn't notice the bloody footprint she left on the bathroom tiles.  
  
........  
  
As Indiana walked back into to the Food Court she caught site of her friends sitting at the table, they were arguing, which was nothing new, suddenly Silvya stood up and started towards the bathroom. Indiana turned and headed towards the stores. Three hours later and ninety dollars lighter. Her hair had been washed and combed. Individual streaks of blue were tightly braided and her mass of hair was pulled back into a horses' tail behind her head. A large brain now cascaded down her back. She'd also brought a bandanna to try and hide the obviousness of her hair. Indiana tried to think of how she was going to get to New York, which was over 4000 miles away from Athabasca; it wasn't even in the same state!  
  
*Well, I'm not getting a plane ticket for a hundred and ten bucks; we don't have any train stations near here, so I guess I'm going by bus.*  
  
.........  
  
*Oh you have got to be kidding me. No way. Sixty bucks to Fort McMurray? Shit!*  
  
Indiana glared at the ticket machine as it sucked up her bills and spat out her ticket.  
  
*That leaves me with what? Fifty bucks to get to New York, a disc that people are killing for, a necklace with an X on it, and a handgun covered in blood.*  
  
With a sigh Indiana found her seat and slept the forty-five minutes until the bus left.  
  
........  
  
Indiana glared at the woman across from her; she had been staring for the last ten minutes. In fact everyone on the bus seemed to have spent at least ten minutes staring at her.  
  
*Damn hair.*  
  
There was still about two hundred miles to Fort McMurray. With a sigh Indiana pulled her bag onto her lap and pulled out an apple. She was starving and devoured the piece of fruit, core and all. The woman across from her sniffed. Ignoring her Indiana tried to go back to sleep.  
  
As soon as the bus stopped Indiana awoke, looking out the window she wondered what the problem was, 'cause they sure as hell won't in Fort McMurray. She turned to find the driver clearing his throat beside her.  
  
"The other passengers wish you to leave the bus, Miss."  
  
Indiana looked around incredulously. The driver seemed to take her silence for shock.  
  
"We don't want no mutants on this bus!"  
  
Called a voice from up the back, the caller was quickly shushed but Indiana flinched just the same.  
  
Emotions were flooding through her, anger, fear and--- shame.  
  
"Please leave." Was all the driver said.  
  
Some of her emotions must have shown on her face, because the driver started to motion her up the front, looking around all she saw was hostile faces, she grabbed her bag and followed. He practically threw her off the bus  
  
"Look kid, personally? I got no problem with ya, but them,"  
  
He made a motion towards the passengers  
  
"Hell, I could lose my job."  
  
Indiana felt like crying, she opened her mouth, ready to protest her innocence, before remembering she couldn't speak. The driver took out his wallet.  
  
"Here's fifty bucks kid, to reimburse some of your ticket. Good luck."  
  
With that he got back on the bus and pulled out of the truck stop. 


	4. Car Trouble

Keep reviewing. I love you. And if you haven't seen X2 go and see it because it rocks!  
  
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For the next half hour Indiana sat on a bench in a kind of bewildered shock. She watched the comings and goings of the trucks that pulled in with only half an eye. When she finally came out of her self-imposed daze she noticed a beat up blue pick-up driving in. Indiana watched as the driver put the keys above the sun visor on the driver's side of the car before he walked into the cafe.  
  
Looking both ways she slid over to the pick up, taking the keys from their hiding place she opened the door and slid inside. For a brief instant she felt a little guilty. The thought of having to catch a lift with a trucker decided the matter for her. As quickly as she could Indiana placed her bag on the passenger seat, started the engine and pulled out of the lot. She'd gotten driving lessons from dad about three months before the accident. Driving wasn't her problem; it was the stopping that tripped her up.  
  
*Well if I get my way I won't be stopping.*  
  
Indiana put more pressure on the pedal.  
  
.......  
  
*Damn! Damn! Damn! This could only happen to me.*  
  
She punched the fuel gage a couple of times to see if the needle jumped.  
  
It didn't.  
  
Two miles or so back white smoke had started billowing from the engine, but Indiana had pressed on.  
  
She slammed the door as she got out.  
  
*Stupid. Bloody. Truck.*  
  
As Indiana tried to lift the bonnet she burned her fingers, that was it as far as she was concerned. The set backs of the last month and a half boiled within her. With a scream of rage Indiana flung her hands towards the smoking truck.  
  
.........  
  
Logan looked up as the door of the bar swung open. A figure stumbled in. It was a girl, she was holding a battered bandana to the side of her head trying to stop the flow of blood, she also had the wildest hair Logan had seen outside the School.  
  
"You 'all right Ma'am?"  
  
Asked the bartender. The girl made her way to the bar, but didn't sit down. She nodded. Logan noticed she had a slight cut on one cheek. She also had exquisitely long nails  
  
"Wha' happen'd?"  
  
He asked passing over some napkins. The girl winced as she put them to her head. Looking around she spotted a pad, picking it up she motioned for a pencil from the bar tender.  
  
/Car trouble./  
  
The bar tender looked at the paper. Then looked at the girl.  
  
"Can you talk, honey?"  
  
The girl shook her head.  
  
"But you can understand me?" She nodded  
  
"What kind of trouble?"  
  
The girl took the pad back.  
  
/It exploded./  
  
"Gosh. You're lucky to be alive."  
  
Again the girl nodded. She lent over the pad and started writing again.  
  
/Could you tell me the fastest way to New York from here please?/  
  
The bar tender set about giving precise but complicated instructions of how to get there. Halfway through the girl held up a hand. Taking the pad she wrote.  
  
/Would anyone in hear be going that way? Or in that general direction?/  
  
"Hey guys!"  
  
The drinkers looked at him  
  
"Anyone going to New York?"  
  
One of the truckers in the corner raised a glass  
  
"I am."  
  
Logan looked at who had spoken, the guy had spent the last two hours bragging about his 'conquests', if you could call them that. It sounded more like all the unwilling women he had forced into bed.  
  
*This is not my problem. This has absolutely nothing to do with me* Thought Logan *Would you let Rouge get into a vehicle with that guy?* Whispered a little voice in the back of his mind.  
  
The trucker was moving towards the bar with a leer. Pushing his stool back Logan put a hand on the girl's arm.  
  
"I'll take her."  
  
Logan thought he might have imagined the relief in both the girl's and the bartender's eyes, but he doubted it.  
  
/Thanks. I'm Indiana./  
  
"Logan. Get your stuff, the bike's outside."  
  
Logan finished his beer and picked up his bag.  
  
"Hey, what's the big idea? I said I'd take her."  
  
Shouted the trucker. Logan pushed Indiana towards the door.  
  
"I think the lady's decided to ride with me."  
  
Logan ducked under the first punch, and drove his fist up into the trucker's rib cage. He doubled over with a grunt.  
  
........  
  
Indiana watched the fight fearfully from the doorway. It looked like Logan was winning, but having no experience in bar brawls Indiana couldn't tell. She was just about to take out the gun and let off some shots when the trucker went down and stayed down. Logan picked up his bag and started walking towards the door.  
  
........  
  
"Make sure you got a good grip on me. This bike goes pretty fast."  
  
Indiana nodded as she got on behind Logan. Putting her arms around his middle she held on. Logan started up the bike and they rode out of the parking lot.  
  
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So what do you guys think so far? 


	5. Guns Don't Kill People, People Kill Peop...

You guys still there? Good. Stay there. Things are about to get interesting.  
  
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///A homeless man was been found shot to death in a Ladies bathroom in Northern Alberta. The man, who has not yet been identified, was killed around twelve o'clock yesterday. As yet, the police have no leads, though the partial footprint of a Ladies size seven shoe was found near the body.  
  
In other news sixteen-year-old Indiana-Chicago Munroe, the only survivor of the horrific thirty-car pile up in Toronto last month has been declared a missing person. Miss Munroe who disappeared from an Athabasca shopping Mall- -- ///  
  
Major John Murphy clicked of the news program with a smile.  
  
"Sergeant Thompson get me all the security videos for that Athabasca mall on April first will you? And get me a file on this Munroe girl."  
  
"Yes Sir!"  
  
Murphy sat staring at the screen long after Thompson left, eventually he whispered  
  
"You have something of mine little girl, and I plan to get it back, whatever the cost."  
  
.......  
  
Indiana let out an involuntary hiss of pain when she got off the bike. Sitting so long in one position was hell on the knees. Logan wanted to stop for a while in Fort McMurray and Indiana had some things she thought it wise to take care of.  
  
Logan turned as soon as the hiss was past her lips.  
  
"You all right Kid?"  
  
He asked concerned. Indiana smiled, or tried to, it looked rather like a grimace, and nodded. By way of hand signals Indiana conveyed that she'd meet him in three hours. Logan nodded and turned to go. Indiana hesitantly put out a hand to stop him.  
  
Thank You, she mouthed.  
  
"No problem Kid. Be careful."  
  
Indiana nodded.  
  
.........  
  
Joe's Guns & Knives was a-way off the main strip, tucked between a Pawnshop and a run down Bar, it was not the most inviting place. Indiana slowly made her way across the street and pushed open the door. The man behind the counter looked up as she entered. Indiana tried to look scared and venerable. Walking over to the counter she took a pen and one of the many fliers that littered the counter top.  
  
/Good afternoon. I was wondering if you would be kind enough to tell me the sort of bullets this gun would take?/  
  
Indiana took the handgun she had taken off the floor of the bathroom out of the pocket of her jacket and placed it on the counter.  
  
/My boyfriend gave it to me for protection when we were together but we broke up a week ago. I need some bullets in case he. If something happens./  
  
Joe looked on the girl with sympathy. The girl he was currently with had had an abusive ex.  
  
"I take it you were the one that ended it?"  
  
He asked. The girl nodded.  
  
"You get twenty in a box, boxes are thirty bucks each."  
  
/Okay. Do you think you could give me some pointers on shooting this thing?/  
  
Joe came out from behind the counter; taking the gun he set his feet against the recall.  
  
"This is a forty-five, okay?"  
  
She nodded  
  
"Safety off. Dynamic tension,"  
  
He took her right hand and set it in position on the right side of the gun  
  
"Left hand, right hand, palms pressed together, okay? Cover your ass."  
  
He pointed around the room  
  
"Twelve, three, six, nine, wherever you look, always. Never look in a direction the gun ain't pointing, you understand?"  
  
Indiana nodded. She shoved the gun back in her pants and reached into her shirt for the hundred dollars she had left.  
  
/I'll take three boxes./  
  
Joe rang 'em up and put them in a paper bag. As Indiana turned to go he caught her arm.  
  
"Here girl, take off your jacket."  
  
She gave him a suspicious look.  
  
"Trust me."  
  
Warily Indiana took of the duster. Joe went back behind the counter, sliding open the display case he took out a single shoulder holster. Sliding her arms into it Joe began to adjust it to fit. Taking the gun from her pants Indiana handed it to Joe. Joe slid it home, than helped her put the duster back on.  
  
"See, it's invisible under ya coat."  
  
Indiana reached for her remaining bills but Joe held up a hand.  
  
"It's on the house, Kid. The world's a dangerous place, and you might need it to fend off more than your ex."  
  
With a smile he pushed the girl, more grateful then he could ever know, out the door.  
  
........  
  
Indiana headed back to the main drag. Halfway to where Logan had parked the bike she came across a Post Office. Walking in she found a sheet of paper and started to write:  
  
() Dear Bi and Sill,  
  
Don't worry too much. I'm fine. I just have some things to take care of. I hope everything is fine and you haven't been blamed for me scooting. It was nothing either of you did, so don't blame yourselves. I was thinking of getting out anyway, before this thing came up. I'm not sure if I'll be back, but if I do you guys are the first people I'll find. I don't think when I was in the hospital I ever appreciated how much they did for me. I do now. Take care of yourselves. I love you guys.  
  
Indiana. ()  
  
Indiana went to the counter and brought a prepaid envelope, slipping the letter inside she handed it to the woman behind the counter and walked out. There was still two hours until she had to meet Logan, and Indiana had a total of five dollars left. Without any remorse or guilt she decided that she had to change that.  
  
.............  
  
*Here we are now* She gave a wolfish smile.  
  
Indiana followed the suit for two blocks until he approached an ally-way. Striding forward she upholstered the forty-five and pressed it to the old guy's ribs, while slipping her other hand into his pocket. Keeping the gun on him she checked through. She ignored the various credit cards and just concentrated on the cash.  
  
*Three hundred dollars! What kind of idiot carries around three hundred dollars cash?*  
  
Indiana shoved the bills down the front of her shirt, than threw the wallet back to the old guy, who was now kneeling. She saluted him with the gun; re- holstered it, then turned and ran.  
  
.........  
  
She found Logan sitting outside a small cafe. He was reading one of the major newspapers and had a plate of toasted sandwiches in front of him.  
  
"Get what you wanted done?"  
  
He inquired politely. Indiana smiled and nodded. Taking out the pad and pen she had brought Indiana started to write.  
  
/How far are you going Logan?/  
  
"I can take you as far as suburban New York. I'm thinking of visiting some friends."  
  
Indiana nodded, motioning the pad back she asked a question to which she hoped Logan would know the answer to.  
  
/Logan would you know where West Chester County is?/  
  
Alarm bells started going off in Logan's head.  
  
"What part of West Chester are you looking for?"  
  
/Salem Center. Do you know where it is?/  
  
"Yeah, I know the place."  
  
As Indiana leaned closer to Logan a chain fell out from beneath her top. Logan watched as the encircled X caught the afternoon sun.  
  
/Is it anywhere near where your friends live?/  
  
"Yeah, it is actually. Why you going' to New York anyway?"  
  
/I got commandeered to deliver a package. And the guy that gave me it has recently become deceased. So I'm on my own./  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
/Don't be, I'm not. Though I wish he had have died after telling me who I was supposed to deliver it to./  
  
"You don't know?"  
  
/Nope. All I have is an address./  
  
"What's the address?"  
  
/1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, West Chester County, New York./ 


	6. Broken Glass, Shards Of Yesterdays Life

Major Murphy looked down at the letter in his hand and smiled. It was post- marked four days ago and had been sent from Fort McMurray.  
  
*Stupid kid*  
  
It was the Munroe girl, the cameras had confirmed it. He picked up the phone and pressed speed dial.  
  
"Fredrickson, deploy the team to get the girl, yes give them weapons, I don't want her brought back alive for Christ's sake."  
  
Murphy wasn't taking any chances, and either was his employer, that's why he'd assembled a mixed crew of humans and mutants.  
  
They both knew the price if they failed.  
  
...........  
  
It was about a week after she had posted the letter, and as they pulled into a truck stop Indiana breathed a sigh of relief. They'd been riding since nine that morning and it was nearing twelve. As they sat down to a quick bite Logan raised the paper he had just brought and started reading. Indiana gave the front page a curious glance  
  
//^Teens Die In Suicide Pact.^//  
  
In a flash of Sight Indiana saw Birony and Sylvia lying stretched out on metal tables. Quickly she snatched the front page and started reading, blind to Logan's annoyed glance.  
  
//^Best friends Birony James and Silvya Tao died yesterday in what has now been deemed a suicide pact. The girls, who jumped to their deaths, were long time friends of Indiana Chicago Munroe, the only survivor of the horrific thirty car pile up that caused the deaths of---^//  
  
Shoving her chair back so fast that it tipped Indiana ran to the rest rooms before she threw up.  
  
......  
  
Logan was mildly annoyed whet Indiana snatched the front page of the paper out of his hands, but that annoyance turned to alarm when he saw her face drain of blood and her hands start to shake. He was really concerned when tears started running down her cheeks. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong Indiana ran to the rest rooms. The muted sounds of spirited vomiting drifted out. Logan waited until after the sounds faded before asking a waitress to go and check on her.  
  
"Ain't no one in there, Sir." She said.  
  
Without answering Logan ran outside. He was just in time to see Indiana disappear around the back of the truck stop; instead of calling out he followed her. He heard the sounds of breaking glass before he got there.  
  
............  
  
Indiana contemplated her burning, stinging palm and decided it was worth it to keep Logan safe. She had no doubts that the men who had killed the bum had also killed her friends. Strangely enough, the lost of her friends did not make her feel sad, no, right now all she felt was a burning anger, a need for revenge. And the best way she could do that was to get to New York with the disk.  
  
Alone.  
  
She had no doubts that Bi and Sil's killers would catch u with her, and when they did she wanted to be alone. Indiana didn't need the weight of any more deaths on her soul.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing kid?"  
  
Indiana turned in shock, raising her hand she threw it palm out towards Logan. Indiana looked at her upraised hand in shock. With a shiver of fear she purposely brought it down and placed it behind her back, clenching her hand into a fist.  
  
"I said I'd give you a ride, and I meant it. Don't you trust me or something?"  
  
Wincing Indiana took the pad out of her back pocket and, ignoring the blood that soaked the paper she started to write  
  
/When we pulled into Fort McMurray I sent a letter to some friends of mine telling them how I was and where I was. According to the front page of today's news they just killed themselves. My friends would never have done that. So that means the guys who are after me did it. It was nice of you to offer the lift Logan, but I don't want any more blood on my hands. They're dirty enough as it is./  
  
"What do you mean? Who's after you?"  
  
/You got an hour?/  
  
Logan felt a strange kind of kin ship for her then, and he smiled when he answered the written question that said more about this strange girl, no, woman then words could ever possibly show.  
  
"Kid, for you I've got all the time in the world."  
  
.......  
  
They sat back down in their original booth and Indiana started to write.  
  
/Three days ago a disk came into my possession, I won't tell you what's on it, so you won't be forced to tell anyone else. What I will tell you is that I must get it to West Chester. Soon. /  
  
"What about the guys who are after you?"  
  
/The first I knew that they were after the disc was about a minuet after it came into my hands. The guy that gave it to me was shot less then 3m's from where I was hiding. They must have been watching my friends, because/  
  
Logan watched as tears started leaking out of Indiana's eyes. Silently he put an arm around her shoulder. She turned and buried her head in the neck of the man that was more important to her now, then any other person on the planet. 


	7. Slices To Remember Me By

I'm actually really involved in another fic at the moment, but with KASHA sending me emails telling me to update I decided to bend to her will. I actually want to finish this fic relatively soon, so tell me if I'm moving too fast. Enjoy, review, and wish me luck on finishing. I've lost my synopsis, so now I've no idea what's going on. We'll all just have to play it by ear.  
  
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Indiana looked around at the dingy trailer park and grimaced. It sure as hell wasn't what she was used to. Logan noticed the grimace and touched her arm in concern.  
  
"You okay, Kid?" He asked.  
  
They were only about a days ride from New York and Logan was glad. The death of her friends had affected Indiana in a way the death of her parents had not. She had become moody and silent. Well, more silent then she already was. She never smiled anymore, or laughed. And she continually checked over her shoulder, looking for an enemy that was never there.  
  
*At least not yet* Added Logan as an afterthought.  
  
He knew whoever had killed Indiana's friends would now be coming after her. They were only a day away from New York. Almost there. Almost safe. It was strange. In a matter of weeks a girl he'd picked up in a bar had become the most important thing in Logan's life.  
  
...........  
  
Indiana stared at the water running down her body, watched as it ran into the cracks between the shoddy bathroom tiles. She felt anger rising deep within her. This wasn't new. Ever since the deaths of her best friends Indiana found she had been angry a lot, and bitter, and sad, and--- guilty. Yes. Guilt. She knew that, logically, it wasn't her fault. But it was hard to tell that to her heart.  
  
*It's not fair* She sobbed quietly, *What did I do? I never wanted this! I never asked to be a mutant. I never asked to be a freak. All I wanted--- was to be normal. A normal teenage girl in a normal teenage world. What did I do wrong?*  
  
She looked down at her nails. They were shorter now; it was more practical that way. But on a whim Indiana had pointed them. For Bi. Bi had always wanted pointy nails, said it was one of her fantasies.  
  
Stepping out if the shower Indiana regarded herself in the mirror. She was thinner now. Time and stress had left their mark. But she was also wiser. It was amazing how fast you grew up when you didn't have a choice.  
  
Looking back at her reflection Indiana felt a moment of regret for what she was about to do. She hoped Logan wouldn't be disappointed in her. Logan. Indiana didn't know how she felt on that subject. Sometimes she caught him looking at her in the strangest way. There was almost a hunger in his eyes. But most alarming were the times when she caught herself looking back at him with the same hungry gaze. In the end, it didn't matter. This was just something she had to do.  
  
Picking up the razor blade that rested on the chipped porcelain basin she raised her arms--- and began to cut.  
  
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Mwahhahahahar! What do you think of that?! 


	8. Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman

Logan stared in shock as Indiana entered the caravan they were sharing.  
  
"You--- You---Your hair." Was all he could come out with.  
  
Indiana's beautiful mane of candy-striped hair was gone. In its place was a shorter-then-shoulder-bob composed of varying lengths of hair. It didn't look that bad on her actually. The front of her hair sported ear-length bangs of snow white. The rest was almost pure electric blue.  
  
"Look's good Kid, but why the sudden change?"  
  
Indiana gave a shrug and picked up her pad. Why did Logan always have to call her Kid?  
  
/Too hot./  
  
She wrote. Deciding that it was his special way of being annoying.  
  
Logan nodded, knowing the kid had other reasons that she wasn't willing to share. That was fine with him. He could deal.  
  
"Why don't you go crash?" Logan pointed to the bedroom at the end of the trailer. "I made the bed up and all."  
  
/Where will you sleep?/  
  
Indiana asked, suddenly apprehensive.  
  
I'm sleepin' up top kid." Logan pointed to the roof.  
  
Indiana //looked// at Logan and raised an eyebrow.  
  
/You're sleeping with me Logan. No way am I kicking out you out of a bed. You're just as tired as I am, more so. I haven't been driving./  
  
Logan laughed as he read what Indiana had written.  
  
"You want me to sleep with you?" He regretted the words, and his tone, as soon as he'd spoken. And when he saw the pained look flit across Indiana's tired face, he wished he could ram them back down his throat. How he'd read the note was obviously not how he'd interpreted it. Not that he would have minded. The girl had an annoying way of getting under your skin. Damn! He'd screwed things up big time. Why the hell had he even contemplated that she might possibly be interested in him? It was probably vanity. Looking down at the pad he winced in pain at what she'd written.  
  
/God Logan, I'm not that bad am I?/  
  
"Look, Indiana, I didn't mean it like that---" Logan tried in vain to explain himself, but Indiana cut him off by throwing a balled piece of paper at him, then stalking into the tiny bedroom and slamming the door. With a sigh Logan looked down at what she'd written.  
  
/Don't worry about sleeping with me Logan. It's for the best. 'Cause judging by the way my lucks been running, I'd turn over in my sleep and blow you up./  
  
Logan felt a tightening in his guts. This was the first time Indiana had ever mentioned the mutation she had. Logan had known she had to have had one, no one had hair and nails like that naturally, but this was the first time the girl had actually acknowledged it.  
  
............  
  
Indiana woke from the light doze she'd been in when a weight settled in on the other side of the bed. Turing, she regarded Logan through slightly puffy eyes. Logan regarded her back. Slowly he held up a fist, and Indiana watched in fascination as metal blades emerged from between his knuckles. Reaching out she hesitantly touched the tip of one of the razor sharp pieces of metal. She watched in silence as a single drop of blood appeared on her fingertip. The ruby globule glistened like a jewel in the moonlight that permitted the thin curtains.  
  
"I'm not exactly Prince Charming." Logan whispered from the darkness. Indiana smiled.  
  
*But you'll do* She thought, as she lent into the kiss.  
  
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Oh yeah! I'm on so much of a roll I'm gunna finish this tonight. 


	9. The Scent of Pain And Fear

"Target has been positively identified, Sir!"  
  
Major Murphy smiled.  
  
"You know what to do."  
  
...........  
  
When Indiana woke, Logan was nowhere in sight. With a smile she rolled into the middle of the bed and stretched full out. Last night--- had been great. And Logan was in the shower. Indiana sighed. Looked like the Knowing had come back again. She thought her other powers might had smothered it. No such luck. She felt like one of those ancient gypsies that stared into the crystal balls. Well, at least she had a way of making cash: telling fortunes. The thought wasn't as funny as it was supposed to be.  
  
With a sigh she rose and dressed, wincing at the slight pain between her thighs. Except for a sharp sting at the start, last night had been pure bliss. Logan was a--- Indiana blushed--- very attentive lover.  
  
Grabbing a change of clothes, Indiana headed for the shower.  
  
..........  
  
Indiana sighed as she pulled on her jeans. The hot water had done a lot to sooth her aches and pains from last night. With a smile she headed back to the caravan.  
  
..........  
  
As soon as Indiana stepped into the trailer she knew something was wrong. Of course the guy now holding a gun to her head was an obvious give away.  
  
"Where is the disk, Ms Munroe?" He asked with deadly menace.  
  
It took all the will power that Indiana possessed not to flick her eyes to the bedroom. Suddenly two guys were holding her arms. The man with the gun, the same man from the shopping mall, slammed his fist into her face.  
  
Indiana saw stars. God it hurt. She could feel her mind wanting to blank out, wanting to go under. By sheer force of will she pulled herself up through the fog. Not this time. She wasn't going to be a puppet. Not this time. Indiana felt a hand jerk her face up.  
  
"That was, unfortunate, Ms Munroe. Don't make me do it again. Now where is the disk?"  
  
.............  
  
Logan could smell her fear before he'd even got to the trailer. He'd gone for a shower early and planned to surprise her with flowers. It'd felt weird, buying flowers that was. And he felt a little guilty. He hadn't known she was a virgin. Logan had spent this morning wondering if he deserved it. Her, that was. Finding out he was her first had been a shock, and he'd been extra gentle from then on. Making sure her first time had been the best.  
  
And now, she was in trouble. Logan picked up other scents on the wind. Men, military, four of them. With a growl Logan unsheathed his claws, and started towards the trailer.  
  
............  
  
When the butt of the gun hit her for the second time Indiana felt the sickening crack of bone. It was her cheek, no, her eye? Indiana didn't know. It all hurt so much. She was glad she couldn't speak. For once her voicelessness was working for her. If she couldn't speak, and they wouldn't let her go, then she had no way to tell them where it was.  
  
Suddenly Indiana dropped to the ground, she was free--- why? Her eyes opened wide as one of her captor's body's fell in front of her. Three parallel slashes went from his throat, up his face. Struggling to her knees Indiana watched as Logan fought the second guy. Gutting him with a swift underarm strike Logan turned on the last guard. The one who had been waiting in the shadows.  
  
Indiana was so entranced by the fight that the sound of a shot ringing out shocked her. She looked around, to find who'd been hit, when a slightly warm sensation in her left shoulder, just above her heart and just below her collarbone, caught her attention.  
  
*Oh. It's me* She thought in a kind of abstract shock as her legs slowly slid out from under her.  
  
Indiana heard a roar of rage and saw Logan almost behead his opponent and then rush the guy with the gun. Indiana Saw Logan lying in a puddle of blood, and her heart wretched in terror.  
  
"LOGAN!" She screamed with all he being.  
  
As Logan turned to look at her he seemed to shudder. Twice, three times, a forth. Sound reintroduced itself. And Indiana got to her feet. It didn't matter anymore. Not the pain, not the people, not the disk. All she felt now was rage. And hate.  
  
Lots of it.  
  
With a scream she barely heard, Indiana summoned her mutation. The power, the electric blue energy that now made up her being, the power that was infused into her bones and cells. She called it with all she had. And it burned. It burned so bad. Like cold fire, power in the blood. She could feel it freezing her rage, her anger. Making the boiling and shivering emotions of wrath harden into the cold, black, knowledge of revenge. With a smile, she let go.  
  
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I'm giving up Road Trip to finish this, you realise that right? This is going to be the first fan fiction in my entire life that I have ever finished. You guys owe me big. 


	10. A Price Too High To Pay

Indiana slowly picked her way through the trailer, walking over to where Logan's body lay. Her heart almost stopped when she found a pulse. It was faint, but it was there.  
  
Ignoring the pain in her abused body she heaved him up and half carried, half dragged him to a dark van in the parking lot. She had guessed that this was their vehicle. She sent a small thread of energy towards it and found it unlocked. Pulling open the van door Indiana made Logan as comfortable as she could. She wrapped him in blankets to help prevent the onset of shock, and stanched the sluggish bleeding as best she could. Then she went back to their trailer to see what was salvageable.  
  
..........  
  
Indiana looked back and checked Logan for the fifth time that minuet. He was still breathing. It was all good. She looked across to the passenger seat at what she'd been able to salvage. Logan's slightly singed Bomber jacket, her gun and ammo, and the disk. Indiana felt a hatred for it then. This disk that would save thousands of lives and perhaps prevent the Bill from being introduced. She didn't care. At the moment her face and neck were on fire, her body ached, and Logan--- Indiana swallowed back tears--- Logan might die.  
  
*But tears won't help!* She snarled to herself, snarled to the weak part that wanted to call an ambulance and bugger the consequences, the part that wanted someone else to take care of her, fix everything that had happened, make it all better.  
  
In response to that part Indiana lowered her foot on the gas. It was gunna take them thirty hours to reach Westchester New York. She was gunna make it in twenty.  
  
..............  
  
Indiana stepped out of the van and began to fill up. It wouldn't help either of them if they ran out of gas. She filled the tank. And caught the eye of a guy filling up across from them. He was staring with his mouth open.  
  
Indiana looked down at herself.  
  
Logan's blood as well as her own, had stained her pristine singlet scarlet. Her jeans were stiff with blood. Indiana glanced at the wound in her shoulder. It was bleeding freely.  
  
*How could I not have noticed that* She wondered in confusion.  
  
A wave of dizziness almost floored her.  
  
*No. I won't.* A new thought occurred to her. On that blew all traces of dizziness from her mind.  
  
*I can't.*  
  
...........  
  
Indiana looked down at the sloppy bandage that was tied around her shoulder. For some reason the man had been wiling to give up his shirt. Dawn was just breaking over the horizon as New York came into view.  
  
Flashing lights in the rearview mirror caused her to slow down, though she seethed with impatience. The cop got out of the car slowly.  
  
"Can I see your license please, Mam?" Indiana didn't even think before answering  
  
"Don't have one." She said. Through the window the cop caught sight of her shirt.  
  
"Mam, are you okay!?" He asked in concern. Indiana leaned across to the passenger seat and grabbed the gun. Slowly she opened the door.  
  
"No."  
  
...............  
  
The sun was higher then she liked when Indiana finally found the street she was looking for. She'd left rubber on every corner for the last mile. After the cop had so kindly given her directions, Logan's breathing had become very shallow. And there was a bubbling sound every time he breathed in. Two of the holes in his chest were in the vicinity of his lungs. One or both could have made the puncture.  
  
"1407 Graymalkin Lane." Indiana repeated to herself.  
  
A large pair of iron gates barred her path, but they had an intercom at least. Reaching out the window was pure torture, but Indiana did it anyway.  
  
"Yes?" A voice answered.  
  
It was a pleasant masculine voice, of even timber. Indiana mistrusted it immediately.  
  
"Look I got a disk to deliver to whoever runs this place. Open the gates." She demanded  
  
"A disk? Excuse me, who are you? What disk are you talking about?"  
  
"Look. Dick." Indiana searched around in her memory for the name of the guy who'd given her the disk. She couldn't find it, 'cause it wasn't there. The idiot'd never told her his name. Damn!  
  
"Let's try this again. Scott." She almost saw the guy on the other end flinch. Knowing stuff might work out to be useful after all.  
  
"A very dear friend of mine, I would go so far to say my boyfriend, has been shot. I have him with me now. And if you don't open this fucking gate in the next ten seconds." Indiana smiled sweetly "I'll level your fucking house."  
  
Reaching Indiana found the electric blue energy that was her mutation. The gates shot open. She smiled, but didn't let go of the power she'd called.  
  
.............  
  
There was a crowd of people waiting for them at the end of the drive. Indiana brought the van to a halt; jumped out, and yanked open the doors.  
  
"Here let me see." A red headed woman with the look of a doctor about her stepped out of the throng.  
  
Indiana lent over Logan and gently touched his face.  
  
"We're here baby. We're safe. We finally made it." She could feel tears threatening, "I love you."  
  
Indiana felt happy for the first time in a long time. They were safe here, Logan was gunna get some medical attention, he'd be all right. And the disk would go to the right people. She could See this in her heart. But Indiana also knew her powers were new. Not yet trained to the best of their ability. So just in case---  
  
Indiana turned around to the doctor looking woman, she moved out of the way so that she could see the extent of Logan's wounds. She gasped, but the look of recognition in her eyes finally made something click. Logan's 'friends' and her disk receivers were one in the same. That was good. A little more incentive. But like she'd said, just in case---  
  
Indiana stepped up to the woman and took her hands. She smiled into her eyes, her face protested, but she did it anyway.  
  
"If he dies," Indiana said, gesturing to Logan "So do you." Indiana took in the crowd of faces over the woman's shoulder. Gently she turned her around until she faced the crowd. "And so do they."  
  
Indiana knew Logan wouldn't die. But it was always best to make sure of these things. After all, she had learned the price of failure. And it had hurt more than her pocket.  
  
A lot more.  
  
..........  
  
Major Murphy felt the plastic case on the phone in his had crack ever so slightly. Slowly he lowered it to the cradle. He'd just been informed of the abysmal failure of his team. Xavier was now in possession of the disk. It wasn't the death of the team that mattered. There were others. No, this was something else. Major Murphy regarded the view from his office window, then looked down at he file involuntarily crushed in his hands. Opening it he stared into the laughing eyes of a seventeen-year-old girl.  
  
Business had always been just that before. Business. But now he was going to make and exception.  
  
"Enjoy it while it lasts, girl," Murphy said to the unresponsive office walls "'Cause when you least expect it I'm gunna land on you like a tone of bricks. This isn't a job anymore. It's personal." Picking up the now slightly damaged phone, Murphy made a call.  
  
~end~ (ish)  
  
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This is the first fan fiction I have finished in my entire life. I am dead serious and you can all thank KASHA. Who interrupted my steady stream of 'Wings reviews to tell me I needed to update. There may be a sequel, but not right now. 


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